USA Track & Field – News and Notes – Nov. 8, 2016 – Richards-Ross, Hoffa officially retire from competitive track & field

INDIANAPOLIS — Four-time Olympic gold medalist Sanya Richards-Ross and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Reese Hoffa have both officially retired from competitive track & field.

The duo received official word from USADA that their retirement paperwork has been processed, meaning that they are officially retired from the sport.

Richards-Ross has stayed active in the sport since her last competition at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field. Richards-Ross delivered commentary for NBC Sports at both the Olympic Trials and the Rio Olympic Games this summer, and is releasing her book in Summer 2017. Richards-Ross is a 14-time global medalist, including 10 gold medals.
 
Three-time Olympian Hoffa won the 2012 Olympic bronze medal in the men’s shot put and competed in three Olympic Games. The 2007 IAAF World Championships gold medalist in the men’s shot put, Hoffa was also the champion in the event at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships. Hoffa is a six-time global gold medalist in the shot put and the eighth-best U.S. performer of all time. Hoffa participated in a TEDxUGA talk earlier this year and stated after winning the 2014 Nike Prefontaine Classic that he wouldn’t compete past 2016.

Masters XC champions crowned in Tallahassee

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA — Gorgeous conditions greeted the masters runners assembled to contest the 5 KM Masters Championships at the Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee last weekend.

Sonja Friend-Uhl and Marisa Sutera Strange wasted no time in going to the front to renew their friendly rivalry. Strange beat Friend-Uhl by a single second at the USATF 10K Championships in April before Friend-Uhll was sidelined by injury for a few months. When she came back at the USATF 5K Championships in early October, Friend-Uhl edged Strange by eight seconds. This matchup also belonged to Friend-Uhl, as she pulled away to win in 18:12, opening up a half minute margin by the end. Strange finished in second overall in 18:44. Katherine Wolski pulled away from the chase pack to claim third in 19:12.
 
Friend-Uhl noted that, “I had three goals coming into today: to lead my Atlanta Track Club Women’s 40 and over team to victory, to win the Masters race, and to break 18 minutes. I’ll take two out of three.”

Kristian Blaich, Jon Noland, Danny Goodman, and Craig Greenslit formed a lead pack early in the race. Eventually that pack broke up as Goodman and Greenslit fell away and then Noland kicked away to win in 16:23.8, with Blaich less than 2 seconds back in second place. Goodman ran 16:34 to edge Greenslit for third by two seconds.

The age-grading champions were Strange, 53, for the women with 91.22%, and Tom McCormack, 63, for the men with 92.06%.

The Atlanta Track Club took home four of the seven team titles, while the Genesee Valley Harriers edged the Boulder Road Runners in a thrilling upset victory in the Men’s 60+ division. Shore Athletic Club took the Men’s 70+ crown, while New Balance Tampa captured the Women’s 50+ title.

Contributed by Paul Carlin, USATF Masters LDR Media Chair

Michta-Coffey, Podlaski break American records at USATF Race Walk Championships

HAUPPAUGE, NEW YORK — Fifty miles east of the New York Marathon on Sunday, athletes met in Hauppauge, New York to compete in 2016 USATF 30km Open / 30km Masters / 20km Junior Race Walk Championships.

2016 Olympian Maria Michta-Coffey (Stony Brook, New York) continued her dominance in the 25km by breaking her own record from 2014 in 2:03:35, leading to a new national 30km record of 2:29:17. Pending confirmation, her 30km time would unseat Teresa Vail’s record by 2:17.

In the men’s race, 2015 NAIA Outdoor National Championships winner in the 3,000m Nick Christie (San Diego, California) won the 30km overall in 2:20:57, defeating second-place finisher Claudio Villanueva by 3:47. Pablo Gomez (Evanston, Illinois) was the highest-finishing Masters athlete with a time of 2:44:13, coming in eighth place overall.

Junior race walk athlete Meaghan Podlaski (Colonie, New York) appeared to break Michta-Coffey’s 2005 U.S. record of 1:49:43 by 2:26. The nineteen-year-old finished fifth overall in her debut race at that distance.
 
Canaday, Bracy capture USATF Trail Marathon Championships

MOAB, UTAH — Temperatures in the mid-50s with overcast skies greeted runners at this weekend’s USATF Trail Marathon Championships held in conjunction with the 8th Moab Trail Marathon in Moab, Utah, which was held as part of a trifecta of racing including the marathon, a half marathon, and an adventure 5K.
 
Sage Canaday, 30, Boulder, Colorado, had a specific focus: “My goal today was to beat my time from three years ago and to try and crack three hours. The low threes (hours) has been the winning time, so I knew it would probably take a sub-3 to win knowing how competitive the field was.”

Canaday achieved both goals finishing in 2:58:25 to take the national championships title.

On the women’s side, Addie Bracy, 30, Longmont, Colorado, bested two-time winner and last year’s titlist Megan Kimmel, 36, Ridgeway, to the finish line to earn the victory in 3:40:28.
 
“I really wanted to win to get that trip to Worlds,” Bracy said. “I actually thought Megan was ahead of me (from the start), so I was running to catch up. Then around mile 10, Megan caught me…I even said to her, ‘I thought you were ahead of me.’”

Complete results can be found here. For the full recap, please visit ATRA’s website here.

USA Track & Field